911 briefs -- Published Dec. 11, 2013

TRACY - An alert citizen helped police apprehend a man who robbed a bank, fled from officers and crashed his vehicle near an elementary school Tuesday morning in Tracy, authorities said.

By The Record

recordnet.com

By The Record

Posted Dec. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By The Record
Posted Dec. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

TRACY - An alert citizen helped police apprehend a man who robbed a bank, fled from officers and crashed his vehicle near an elementary school Tuesday morning in Tracy, authorities said.

The robbery occurred about 11 a.m. at the Bank of Stockton in the 1100 block of North Tracy Boulevard, police said. A citizen provided authorities with a description of the bank robber, officers said.

Police spotted the bank robber driving a white Saturn sedan near Carol Ann Drive, authorities said. The man attempted to elude officers, but his vehicle became disabled when he collided with another vehicle in front of George Kelley Elementary School, police said.

Jaime Frutos, 20, of Los Banos was taken into custody without further incident and arrested on suspicion of robbery and evading a peace officer, authorities said. The school was placed on lockdown, but it was reopened after the crash scene was cleared by police, officers said. The driver of the vehicle Frutos crashed into suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

STOCKTON - Authorities used a police dog to help them apprehend two people who attempted to flee from a stolen vehicle Tuesday morning, police officers said.

Members of the Delta Regional Auto Theft Task Force requested assistance from the Stockton Police Department after spotting an occupied stolen vehicle about 7:45 a.m., authorities said. Police attempted to make a traffic stop near East Harding Way and Sycamore Avenue, but the driver refused to yield, leading officers on a short pursuit, officials said.

Police terminated the pursuit for safety reasons due to the proximity of a nearby school, but the vehicle was located a short time later, officers said. The occupants of the vehicle attempted to flee on foot, but a police dog was deployed, and both occupants were taken into custody, police said.

MANTECA - Freezing conditions made it difficult for firefighters to combat a blaze that started as an apparent warming fire in the garage of a vacant Manteca home, authorities said.

The fire was reported about 3:45 a.m. Monday in the 600 block of Virginia Avenue in Manteca, fire officials said. Crews arrived to find thick, black smoke coming from the rear of a detached garage behind an unoccupied single-story home.

Firefighters brought the fire under control within 20 minutes and searched the property for transients who were known to sleep at the vacant home, authorities said. Once the fire was extinguished, salvage and overhaul operations were performed, but the search for hot spots was challenging, because any water applied to the fire froze on the ground within minutes, making it difficult to move fire hoses and equipment, officials said.

No one was injured in the fire, authorities said. Damage to the home was estimated at $25,000, officials said.